Latin America cluster: meeting with Mexican human rights defenders

You are all cordially invited to join the first CSPS Latin America cluster activity, which will be an informal afternoon meeting with two Mexican human rights defenders Cristina Auerbach and Esmeralda Saldaña who work in the field of mining/energy conflicts. They are in Holland on the invitation of PBI and would like to share their experiences with interested scholars and students.

From 19-22 november, we will host two Mexican human right defenders, Cristina Auerbach and Esmeralda Saldaña. Their visit to the Netherlands is part of a European tour to expand their network and to increase the visibility of their human rights work. Since they work in the fields of mining, energy / social conflicts, we were wondering if you might have the time and interest to meet these human rights defenders. Or perhaps you know another colleague at Wageningen University who would be interested.

Cristina Auerbach and Esmeralda Saldaña work for the Pasta de Conchos Family Organisation (PCFO) that has worked for over a decade in the Coal Mining Zone of the state of Coahuila, insisting that the bodies of 63 miners still trapped in the Pasta de Conchos mine be retrieved, while also demanding better safety conditions for miners who continue to work in the area.

Thanks to their analysis and documentation, the organization has been able to bring the Pasta de Conchos case both to the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) and to the ILO (International Labor Organisation). Since 2009, the PCFO has taken up other cases and over the years, the organisation has been broadening its line of work, inspecting workplace safety conditions in mines, documenting workplace accidents, and accompanying local miners through judicial proceedings. Through this work, the PCFO has helped make mining labor rights a priority in Mexican public opinion.

PBI has accompanied the organisation and its director Cristina Auerbach since 2014 due to the high level of risk they face stemming from their legitimate work in defence of human rights.